Nail cartridge and magazine for impact tools



Sept. 23, 1969 F. c. HOWARD 3,468,590

NAIL CARTRIDGE AND MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT TOOLS Filed May 21, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR FRANK C. HOWARD P 3, 1969 F. c. How/m0 3,468,590

NAIL CARTRIDGE AND MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT TOOLS Filed May 21, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 2 Prior art) INVENTOR FRANK C. HOWARD p 23, 1969 'F. c. HOWARD 3,468,590

NAIL CARTRIDGE AND MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT TOOLS Filed May 21, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 IN VENTOR FRANK c. HOWARD By 5M1 w United States Patent 3,468,590 NAIL CARTRIDGE AND MAGAZINE FOR IMPACT TOOLS Frank C. Howard, Wheeling, Ill., assignor to SIgnode Corporation, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Filed May 21, 1968, Ser. No. 730,783 Int. Cl. B6511 83/02 U.S. Cl. 312-73 13 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A nail cartridge and magazine assembly including a disposable cartridge in the form of a flexible plastic shell and an encompassing metal magazine. The magazine constitutes a component of a nail driving tool and snugly receives the cartridge therein. The cartridge contains a flexible strip of ribbon-connected nails and has an outlet opening through which the strip is periodically pulled by the nail feeding mechanism of the tool, one nail at a time emerging from the opening. Cooperating means on the cartridge and magazine are provided in the immediate vicinity of the outlet opening for restraining the nails from spilling through the opening, as well as for automatically Untangling any fold in the flexible nail strip which, otherwise, might cause jamming of the nails in the outlet region of the cartridge and consequent rupture of the strip.

Related and cross-referenced prior art and disclosures.-U.S. application of Frank C. Howard, Ser. No. 659,383, filed Aug. 9, 1967, and entitled Nail Cartridge for Driving T 001 Magazines, now U.S. Patent No. 3,410,620.

U.S. Patent No. 3,357,761, dated Dec. 12, 1967 and entitled Nail Cartridge for Driving Tool Magazines and Flexible Nail Strip Therefor.

U.S. Patent No. 3,353,737, dated Nov. 21, 1967 and entitled Nail Feeding Mechanism for Pneumatically Operable Impact Tools.

The improved nail cartridge and magazine assembly comprising the present invention has been designed particularly for use in connection with impact tools having nail feeding mechanisms of the general type shown and described in United States Patent No. 3,353,737, granted on Nov. 21, 1967 and entitled Nail Feeding Mechanism for Pneumatically Operable Impact Tools. The invention is concerned primarily with a nail cartridge of the type shown and described in United States Patent No. 3,357,761, granted on Dec. 12, 1967 and entitled Nail Cartridge for Driving Tool Magazines and Flexible Nail Strap Therefor, as well as in a copending application of Frank C. Howard, Ser. No. 659,383 filed on Aug. 9, 1967 and entitled Nail Cartridge for Driving Tool Magazines, the present cartridge being an improvement over the cartridge shown and described in such application. The invention is also concerned with a novel combination of a cartridge and a surrounding magazine within which the cartridge is placed when loading the magazine with nails for subsequent ejection, one at a time, during successive nailing operations.

Nail cartridges of the type under consideration are comprised essentially of a resilient plastic shell, the interior of which establishes a reservoir for a series of closely grouped ribbon-connected nails, such a series being commonly referred to as a nail strip. One end of the shell is provided with a narrow slot providing a nail outlet opening through which the nail strip is pulled, one nail at a time, under the influence of the nail feeding mechanism associated with the nail driving tool. The nailfilled cartridge is held snugly in position within a surrounding metal magazine shaped conformably to the shape of the cartridge. When the supply of nails in the cartridge is depleted, the cartridge is removed from the magazine and is replaced by a fresh cartridge, the cartridges being disposable.

Heretofore, considerable difliculty has been encountered in the withdrawal of the nails from the cartridge 'under the pulling or impelling action of the feeding mechanism. Due to the extreme flexibility of the nail strip within the cartridge, it frequently happens that a fold in the strip in the vicinity of the nail outlet opening will cause one or more trailing nails to pass forwardly of a leading nail and thus establish a bunching of nails at the outlet opening so that the pulling force exerted by the feeding mechanism will rigidity the thus created nail group and prevent egress of further nails from the cartridge. When such a condition occurs, rupture of the ribbon or ribbons which connect the various nails results or, alternatively, jamming of the feeding mechanism occurs.

Another cause of nail jamming at the outlet opening of the cartridge is particularly prevalent when the cartridge becomes nearly empty so that the nails are incapable of lending stable support to one another in the cartridge and become tilted to that the leading nail of the strip within the cartridge leans in one direction or another and does not register longitudinally with the elongated outlet slot or opening. The pulling force of the feeding mechanism then slams, so to speak, the end regions of the nail against the front wall of the cartridge with the medial region extending crosswise at an angle to the axis of the exit slot or Opening.

Still another difliculty which is encountered, particularly when the impact tool is held in such a position that the nail cartridge extends vertically or at a steep angle and with the outlet opening being disposed at the bottom thereof. There is then a tendency for the nail strip to flow freely from the exit opening of the nail cartridge under the influence of gravitational forces acting upon the nails. Under such a condition, the nail strip spills into the nail feeding station of the tool and jams the nail feeding mechanism.

The present invention is designed to overcome the abovenoted difliculties which are encountered in connection with nail cartridges of the type under consideration and, toward this end, the invention contemplates the provision of a novel nail cartridge and magazine assembly wherein effective detent and nail-spacing means are provided in the vicinity of the nail outlet opening, such detent means being effective under the pulling force of the feeding mechanism to allow discharge of the nails, one at a time, through the outlet opening; to untangle, so to speak, any group or bunch of nails which may become formed in the vicinity of the outlet opening so that there will be no blocking of the opening by nails within the cartridge; to inhibit crosswise placement of a nail and enhance nail alignment with the opening; and to insure proper successive advancement of the nail strip from the cartridge to the nail feeding mechanism one nail at a time and in timed relation to the indexing movements of the latter mechanism, even when the tool is operated in a vertical position.

The provision of such a nail cartridge and magazine combination constitutes the principal object of the present invention. Numerous other objects and advantages of the invention, not at this time enumerated, will become more readily apparent as the nature of the invention is better understood.

In the accompanying three sheets of drawings forming a part of this specification, two illustrative embodiments of the invention have been shown.

In these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred form of nail cartridge and magazine assembly embodying the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the structure shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary outside plan view of the outlet end region of one of the two cartridge shell sections which cooperate to make up the assembled nail cartridge;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view of a portion of the structure shown in FIG. 2, certain portions of the magazine and cartridge being broken away to more clearly reveal the nature of the invention;

FIG, 5 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 5a is a sectional view similar to FIG. 5, illustrating schematically a potential nail jam in the outlet region of a conventional nail cartridge;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view, similar to FIG. 5, illustrating the operation of certain detent mechanism employed in connection with the present invention in relieving a nail jam such as is shown in FIG. 5a;

FIG. 7 is a front end view of the cartridge;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary outside plan view, similar to FIG. 3, showing one of the two sections of a modified form of nail cartridge embodying the invention;

FIG. 9 is a side elevational view similar to FIG. 4 but embodying the modified form of cartridge shell;

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary view similar to FIG. 6 illustrating the operation of the detent mechanism employed in connection with the modified form of cartridge shell; and

FIG. 11 is a front end view of the modified form of cartridge shell.

Referring now to the drawings in detail and in particular to FIGS. 1 and 2, a preferred nail cartridge constructed according to the present invention has been designated in its entirety at 10 and it is shown as being operatively installed in an encompassing magazine 12, the latter constituting part of a conventional nailing tool such as the tool shown and described in the aforementioned Patent No. 3,353,737. The cartridge 10 is of the general type and is similar to the cartridge which is shown and described in the aforementioned application, Ser. No. 659,383, and the entire disclosure of such application, insofar as it is consistent with the present disclosure, is hereby incorporated in and made a disclosure of this application. However, in the present application, only such portions of the cartridge as are pertinent to the present invention are disclosed, together with the necessary modifications thereof. The cartridge 10, as marketed, contains a flexible nail strip S, the nature of which will be described in detail subsequently.

The magazine is in the form of a relatively heavy gauge sheet metal stamping including a bottom Wall 14, downwardly and inwardly sloping side walls 16, a fragmentary top wall consisting of four inturned substantially coplanar top wall sections 18, and a front wall consisting of two inturned sections or flanges and 21. The rear end of the magazine is open for cartridge loading purposes. Reir1 forced attachment ears 22 are provided in the vicinity of the top wall 18 and are formed with bolt holes by means of which the magazine may be fixedly secured in position in the nailing tool with which it is associated. The top wall 18 is provided with a central longitudinal clearance region 24 and the bottom wall 14 is provided with a central longitudinal trough portion 26 to accommodate positioning of the cartridge 10 within the magazine in a manner that will be made clear presently. The front end wall section 20 is turned forwardly as indicated at 28 to provide a flat vertical side wall section 30 which is connected by a narrow bight portion 32 to an opposed side wall section 34, the two sections 30 and 34 constituting a guide channel for the nail strip as it is progressively moved or indexed toward the nail feeding mechanism of the nailing tool. Bolt holes 36 are formed in the side wall 30 for furthcr attachment of the magazine as a whole in position within the nailing tool.

The nail cartridge 10 is in the form of a two-part, but inseparable, shell which is preferaby made of a suitable plastic material such as light gauge polyethylene sheet material of a transparent, translucent or opaque nature. It is comprised of two complemental sections or blanks 40 and 42, each of which is of shallow generally rectangular pan-shaped design.

Considering the shell in the upright position which it assumes when loaded in the tool magazine and in which it is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and referring additionally to FIGS. 3 to 6 inclusive, the open rims of the sections 40 and 42 are provided with mating laterally turned continuous flanges 44 and 46 respectively which are disposed in face-to-face relationship and suitably secured together by heat sealing or by a suitable solvent or adhesive. When the sections are thus secured together, a box-like structure is provided having top and bottom walls 48 and 50, side walls 52 and 54, a generally trapezoidal rear end wall 56 and a sectional front end wall 58 including wall parts 58a and 58b, and which is interrupted by the provision of a laterally facing passage 60 which constitutes a nail discharge or outlet opening when the nail strip is progressively withdrawn from the shell, and which also may serve as a filling opening when the shell is being loaded with nails at the factory. The longitudinal extent of the shell section 40 is slightly greater than that of the shell section 42 so that the rim flanges 4 and 46, as well as the sections of the front wall, are out of register at the forward end of the shell as clearly shown in FIG, 4, thus defining the nail outlet opening 60.

The nail strip S which is disposed within the cartridge shell 10 is substantially identical to the nail strip which is shown and described in the aforementioned copending application, Ser. No. 659,383 and reference may be had to such application for a full disclosure of the details of such strip. However, for purposes of discussion herein it is deemed suflicient to state that the nail strip S is comprised of a multiplicity of individual nails N which are connected together and maintained in spaced parallelism by means of two composite webs 62 and 64 of pressure-sensitive tape which are pressed together in between nail shanks 66, the strip 62 being disposed a slight distance below the nail heads 68 and the strip 64 being a slight distance above the nail points 70. The nail strip S is thus of a flexible nature and is capable of being readily coiled, bunched, gathered or otherwise caused to assume a group nested condition wherein the nail heads assume contiguous positions with the nail points 70 resting on the bottom wall 50 of the cartridge shell as shown in FIG. 2. Moreover, the nail strip is of such flexibility that it may be caused to flow so to speak, into the cartridge shell by placing the shell in a vertical position, spreading the rim flanges 44 and 46 apart in the vicinity of the outlet opening 60, and allowing the nails to move by gravity downwardly into the shell.

It will be appreciated that when a group of similarly oriented substantially vertically disposed nails are bunched together as shown at the right hand end of FIG. 2, the enlarged nail heads 68 will consume a greater area in the common horizontal plane thereof than will the lower ends of the nail shanks 66. For this reason, the top wall 48 is made somewhat wider than the bottom wall 50 while the side walls 42 and 44 are inclined inwardly and downwardly toward each other. In their erect condition within the cartridge shell 10 there is a tendency for the individual nails to tilt since they possess a degree of unstable equilibrium. Such tilting of the nails would ordinarily lead to possible tangling of the nail strip within the shell and prevent pulling of the strip outwardly through the nail outlet opening 60. For this reason it is preferable that the shell be compartmented with adjacent compartments being in communication with each other so that the nail strip may be pulled from one compartment to another and finally through the outlet opening 61? associated with the foremost compartment, The compartmentation of the present cartridge shell does not appear in detail in the drawings since it bears no direct relation to the present invention. However, for examples of a suitable shell compartmentation, reference may be had to United States Patent No. 3,357,761, granted on Dec. 12, 1967 and entitled Nail Cartridge for Driving Tool Magazines and Flexible Nail .Strip Therefor, and to the aforementioned application Ser. No. 659,383.

Referring now to all views of the drawings, and particularly to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 wherein the details of the outlet opening 60 and its associated detent arrangement are best seen, the flow of nails outwardly through the outlet opening is greatly enhanced by the provision of lateral offset portions 72 and 74, the former portion being provided in the rim flange 44 of the section 40 and the latter being provided in the rim flange 46 of the section 44. These two offset portions have the effect of creating a clearance opening 75 (FIG. 7) in the vicinity of the outlet opening and at the level of the nail heads so as to accommodate passage of these heads outwardly through the opening 60 without appreciable interference or frictional drag on the nail heads. Thus, as the nail strip S is pulled from the cartridge shell 10, the individual nails will successively move across the rim flanges 46 and 44 in the order named, the outlet opening facing generally sidewise between the two rim flanges as clearly shown in FIG. 4.

Releasable means are provided for etfectively closing the nail outlet opening 60 against passage of nails outwardly therethrough and for locking such closing means against inadvertent release during shipment and handling of the cartridge prior to its installation in a tool magazine such as the magazine 12. This means embodies a pair of flexible locking tabs 80 which are formed on the rim flange 46 and which are adapted to be inserted through a slot 82 provided in the adjacent portion of the rim flange 44. Normally, during the feeding of nails when the cartridge is disposed in the tool magazine, the tabs do not interfere with the outward movement of the nail strip through the opening 60. When the tabs 80 are inserted in the slot 82 the exit opening 60 is effectively blocked so that the nail strip contained within the cartridge shell may not spill from the latter during handling or shipment of the cartridge.

With but minor variations in design, the arrangement of parts thus far described does not differ appreciably from the nail cartridge which is shown in the aforemen- 4 tioned copending application Ser. No. 659,383, the novelty of the present invention being embodied in a particular nail spacing and detent means which is associated with the nail outlet opening 60 and the effectiveness of which is enhanced by its cooperation with the rigid metal magazine 12 which encompasses the nail cartridge when the latter is in use. Whereas, in the cartridge of the aforementioned application, the flexible locking tabs corresponding to the tabs 80 were solely relied upon to provide a detent action which restrained the nail strip from sliding freely from the outlet opening, in the present cartridge a more eflicient detent action is attained by the provision of certain shape characteristics which have been imparted to the front wall and the two rim flanges 44 and 46 in the vicinity of such front wall and which will now be described in detail.

Referring now to FIGS. 3, 4 and 7, the front wall part 58a of the shell section is formed with an inwardly offset region which has been designated at 100 by a bracket in FIGS. 3 and 7, such region establishing what will hereinafter be termed an internal detent protuberance. This internal protuberance establishes an external troughlike depression in the front wall port-ion 58a alongside the rim flange 44 the depression providing a shallow trough portion established by a pair of coplanar bottom walls 102 which are separated by a relatively deep central rounded or semi-cylindrical dividing trough 104. The inner end of the trough-like depression or detent protuberance 100 is closed by a planar wall portion 106 (see also FIGS. 5 and 6) which constitutes an inward continuation of the rim flange 44. The detent action of the detent protuberance 100 is enhanced by the provision of a pair of reinforcing ribs 112 which are provided in the opposed rim flange 46 of the shell section 42 and in alignment with the tabs 80. The function of these ribs 112 will be set forth subsequently when the operation of the detent means as a whole is described.

Assuming now that a fresh cartridge 10 containing a full quota of nails N is to be loaded into the magazine 12, the cartridge is inserted endwise through the open rear end of the cartridge and pushed forwardly until such time as the front wall of the shell engages the front wall of the magazine as shown in FIG. 1. It will be observed that the two continuous mating rim flanges 44 and 46 will project upwardly through the longitudinal clearance region 24 between the opposed top wall sections, and will also project downwardly into the narrow trough 26 which is formed in the bottom wall 14 of the magazine. Upon initial loading of the cartridge into the magazine, both parts of the interrupted front wall 58 will move into face-to-face engagement with the two longitudinally offset sections 20 and 21 of the magazine front wall so that this dividing wall will constitute a reaction or backing surface for the base region of the detent protuberance 100 when forward pressure is applied to the crest region of the latter by the shank portions of successive nails N emerging from the cartridge shell through the nail outlet opening 60, all in a manner and for a purpose that will be described in detail subsequently.

The function of the detent protuberance 100 is twofold. Firstly, it serves to maintain the adjacent ribbonconnected nails N spaced from each other substantially the full extent of the flexible webs 62 and 64 which connect them so that there will be no jamming of nails as they pass through the outlet opening. Secondly, it exerts a detent action on the nails as they emerge from the outlet opening 60, thus constraining the nails to issue from the cartridge shell one at a time. Heretofore, in connection with the cartridge shown and described in the aforementioned copending application, Ser. No. 659,383, the relatively weak detent action offered by the locking tabs and their reinforcing ribs 112 was relied upon to restrain the nails from too free an egress from the cartridge shell. It was found however that in some instances, particularly when the nailing tool was inverted for vertical downward nail driving, these locking tabs were inadequate to prevent spilling of the nails from the outlet opening. This fact, largely, has given rise to the present invention.

The detent action which is exerted upon the nails is the result of numerous design features associated with the cartridge shell including the provision of the rim flange reinforcing ribs 112, the tab-receiving slit 82 in the rim flange 44, and especially the dual-depth detent protuberance 100. Assuming now for purposes of discussion that the locking tabs have been withdrawn from the slit 82 and that the nail strip S has been manually drawn forwardly and operatively connected to the nail feeding mechanism, the nail strip S will then be under longitudinal tension under the influence of the impelling mechanism as clearly shown in FIG. 5. The effective width of the outlet opening at this time will be slightly less than the width of a nail, both in the region of the nail head and the nail shank, and the stiffness of the material from which the shell is made will be adequate to prevent outward spilling of the nail strip even in the event that the cartridge assumes a vertical position for downward nail driving purposes by the nailing tool.

In FIG. 5 a potential condition of nail interlock within the forward compartment of the shell 10 has been illustrated for purposes of discussion. In FIG. So this same condition of nail interlock has been illustrated in connection with a conventional cartridge shell 10', as for example the shell of my copending application Ser. No. 659,383 which does not employ the detent protuberance of the present invention. Similar reference numerals with a prime suflix have been applied to the corresponding parts as between the structures of FIGS. and 5a in order to avoid repetition of description. This potential condition of interlock between adjacent nails N in the strip S is a common one in connection with nailing tools employing flexible nail strips due to the severe shock impact of the entire tool each time a nail is driven and the consequent shifting of the positions of the nails within the cartridge. As shown in both FIGS. 5 and 5a, a nail such as the nail N1 will assume a forward position with respect to a nail such as the nail N2, despite the fact that the nail N1 actually is .a trailing nail insofar as the strip ,8 is concerned. Then, as shown in FIG. 5a, when the strip S is pulled forwardly under the influence of the nail feeding mechanism, the head portions of both nails become wedged or jammed within the outlet opening 60' between the wall 58' and the rim flange 46'. The wall 58' will not yield because it is backed up by the overlying rigid metal wall of the magazine 12'.

The cartridge and magazine combination of the present invention obviates such a condition of potential nail jam and reference to FIG. 5 will reveal the fact that when forward. pull is applied to the nail strip, the bottom regions of the central dividing trough 104 of the detent protuberance will yield as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 5 and the physically, but not functionally trailing nail N2 will slide beneath the nail N1 and obviate the potential nail jam. In such an instance a maximum deformation of the detent protuberance will take place wherein not only will the dividing trough yield to an appreciable ex- 2) tent, but also the coplanar bottom walls 102 of the depres sion (see FIG. 3) will flex forwardly and relieve the central trough portion 106 from undue deformation. Still further the rim flange 44 will yield and be deformed in such a manner as to open the tab-receiving slit 82 as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 5. Numerous other irregular and undesirable juxtapositioning of the nails N in the cartridge shell 10, too numerous to mention, may create conditions which, in the absence of the detent protuberance 100, would ordinarily cause a nail jam. Among these are lateral tilting or leaning of the nails in one direction or another. Most conditions of nail clogging in the cartridge shell arise from interlocking of the nail heads 68 and a consequent lack of parallelism of the nail shanks 66 which may be drawn into the outlet opening in advance of the nail heads. It is deemed suflicient to state herein that, in the main, the nail shanks 66 will ride inwardly on the inclined bottom of the dividing trough 106 as shown by the dotted line nail disclosure of FIG. 3 so that the nail heads 68 are maintained out of contact with either of the two offsets 74 and 74 (FIG. 7) while the pointed end regions of the nails are similarly maintained suspended and move clear of the adjacent front wall 58.

Apart from its functional aspect in obviating a nail jam the detent protuberance under normal conditions exerts a detent action on the successive nails emerging from the outlet opening 60. This detent action has been illustrated in FIG. 6 and it involves a repetitious deformation of the detent protuberance 100 in a manner similar to that described in connection with the relieving of a potential nail jam but on a lesser scale. As shown in the full line disclosure of FIG. 6, a slight deformation of the detent protuberance 100 takes place, as well as a slight opening of the tab-receiving slit 82. This detentyielding action occurs each time a nail N is drawn between the protuberance 100 and the rim flange 46. The reinforcing ribs 112 assist in rigidifying the rim flange so that the desired degree of compression will be exerted upon each emerging nail.

In FIGS. 8 to 11 inclusive, a modified form of cartridge and magazine assembly has been shown. In this form of the invention, the magazine 112 remains substantially the same as the magazine 12 shown in FIG. 1 but the cartridge shell 110 is of a different configuration. Due to the similarity of parts between the two illustrated forms of the invention similar reference numerals but of a higher order have been applied to the corresponding parts as between the disclosures of FIGS. 1 to 7 inclusive and FIGS. 8 to 11 inclusive.

Whereas in the cartridge shell 10 of FIGS. 1 to 7 inclusive the detent protuberance is of concave configuration, i.e. is directed inwardly of the shell 10, in FIGS. 8 to 11 inclusive the detent protuberance 200 is directed outwardly, i.e. is of convex configuration. The function of the two protuberances are substantially identical and their mode of operation is similar. In the modified form of the invention, the detent protuberance consists solely of a curved trough 206 and a flat wall portion 206 which constitutes an extension of the rim flange 144, the shallow trough portions or walls 102 being omitted. Thus, when the cartridge shell is loaded into the magazine 12, the entire detent depression 200 will project forwardly beyond the front wall section of the magazine 112 while the divided wall portions 158 will find reaction support against the two front wall sections 120 and 121 of the magazine 112. Due to the fact that the detent protuberance 200 projects forwardly from the front wall portion 58 of the shell section 140, the locking tabs are widely separated on opposite sides of the protuberance and each tab cooperates with a separate slit 182 formed in the rim flange 146. Otherwise the cartridge shell 110 remains substantially the same as the shell 10.

In the operation of the cartridge shell 110 the divided two-part front wall 158 of the shell remains spaced from the two front wall sections 120 and 121. Nail jamming is precluded in a manner similar to that set forth in connection with the inwardly or rearwardly projecting detent protuberance 100 but the nails, instead of having their shank portions bearing against the detent protuberance at a single point of tangency, bridge the base of the detent protuberance and bear against the front wall section 58 of the shell section 140. When excessive tension is applied to the nail strip due to a potential jam such as has heretofore been described, the outwardly or forwardly extending detent protuberance will become deformed, the front wall 58 will yield and the interlocked nails will become untangled as previously set forth in connection with the cartridge shell 10. The detent action of the shell 110 likewise is similar to that described in connection with a potential nail jam but the deformation of the various shell parts is less severe.

Apart from the detent action which is attained by either the cartridge shell 10 or the cartridge shell 110, means are provided for preventing undue collective consolidation of the similar shell sections 40 and 42, or 120 and 142, as the case may be, when the identical shells are stacked upon one another for shipment or transportation to an assembly station where the rims of counterpart shells are joined together. Such a means assumes the form of a series of small stacking nibs (in the case of the cartridge shell 10) and 290 (in the case of the shell 110.) These stacking nibs are in the form of small external tubular protuberances which are formed at the corner regions of the various shell sections at the juncture between the associated rim flanges 44, 44', 46 and 46' with the adjacent side and end wall portions of the shell sections. Being tubular, and of the same diameter, these nibs are incapable of telescopic nesting so that when identical shells are stacked together, the nibs will act as spacers and maintain the rim flanges of the shells slightly spaced apart.

The invention is not to be limited to the exact arrangement of parts shown in the accompanying drawings or described in this specification as various changes in the details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed 1s:

1. A disposable nail cartridge for positioning in the magazine of a nailing tool and comprising: a shell defining a nail-receiving chamber and having flexible resilient front Wall parts defining therebetween an elongated nail outlet, a strip of ribbon-connected nails disposed in said chamber and adapted to be pulled endwise and forwardly through said outlet for sidewise removal of the nails from the shell one at a time, and an offset yieldable nail-engaging detent protuberance on one of said wall parts within the marginal confines thereof, designed for cooperation with the other wall part, and adapted to flex under the influence of successive nails emerging from the outlet.

2. A disposable nail cartridge as set forth in claim 1, wherein said nail-engaging detent protuberance is inwardly offset with respect to the nail-receiving chamber.

3. A disposable nail cartridge as set forth in claim 2, wherein said front wall parts are longitudinally offset from each other so that said outlet faces sidewise of the cartridge shell and the nails issuing therefrom move forwardly, firstly past said other wall part, and secondly past said one wall part, and wherein said detent protuberance on the one wall part has an inward extent such that it substantially bridges the medial region of said outlet and closely approaches the opposed edge thereof on the other wall part and is thus engageable with a medial region of successive nails emerging forwardly from said outlet.

4. A disposable nail cartridge as set forth in claim 3, wherein said inwardly offset detent protuberance defines an external trough-like depression on said one wall part and having a shallow trough portion established by a pair of substantially coplanar bottom Walls which are separated by a relatively deep central dividing trough, the crest portion of said dividing trough being engageable with successive nails as they pass through said outlet.

5. A disposable nail cartridge as set forth in claim 4 wherein said dividing trough is generally semi-cylindrical in transverse cross section, thus establishing a linear apex region on the inner side of the protuberance which is engageable in tangential fashion with the nails issuing from the outlet and which slopes forwardly toward the outlet.

6. A disposable nail cartridge as set forth in claim 5, wherein said flexible front wall parts slope forwardly and inwardly toward each other, and wherein the shape of said outlet opening is conformable to the shape of the nails which issue sidewise therefrom, whereby the inwardly projecting detent protuberance effects a camming action on the nails which come into contact therewith and guides the same toward said nail outlet.

7. A disposable nail cartridge for positioning in the magazine of a nailing tool and comprising: a generally rectangular two-part flexible resilient cartridge shell defining an internal nail chamber and including complementary shallow dished shell sections having continuous rim flanges therearound, one of said sections having a longitudinal extent greater than that of the other section, the rim flanges of the two sections being secured together in face-to-face relation so as to provide opposed top and bottom walls, opposed side walls, a rear end wall, and front wall parts which, together with the rim flange portions thereof, are longitudinally displaced from each other and define therebetween a forward nail outlet which opens sidewise, a flexible strip of ribbon-connected nails disposed in said chamber and adapted to be pulled endwise and forwardly through said outlet for sidewise removal of the nails, one at a time, from the shell, the front wall part of said one shell section being formed with an inwardly offset yieldable detent protuberance in the medial region thereof and which overhangs the rim flange portion on the front Wall part of said other shell section in close proximity thereto and cooperates with the same in restricting the flow of nails sidewise through said outlet.

8. A disposable nail cartridge as set forth in claim 7, wherein said inwardly offset protuberance presents a portion which is arcuate in transverse cross section and merges with an inward extension on and coplanar with the portion of said rim flange on the front wall part of said one shell section.

9. A disposable nail cartridge as set forth in claim 8, wherein said inwardly offset detent protuberance further presents coplanar portions on opposite sides of said arcuate portion to enhance the yieldable characteristics of the protuberance as a whole.

10. A disposable nail cartridge as set forth in claim 9, wherein said portion of the rim flange on the one shell part is formed with an elongated slit therein which traverses the base of said inward extension, and wherein the rim flange on the other shell part is formed with a locking tab removably receivable in said slit to prevent egress of nails from the cartridge shell for purposes of shipment.

11. In a nailing tool, in combination, a generally rectangular rigid sheet metal nail magazine having a divided top wall, a divided bottom wall, a divided front wall, opposed side walls, and an open rear end for telescopic reception of a nail cartridge, said divided front wall including a forward inturned flange and a rearwardly displaced inturned flange, a nail cartridge removably disposed in said magazine and comprised of two complementary shallow dished shell sections having continuous rim flanges therearound, the rim flanges of the two sections being secured together in face-to-face relationship and establishing dual thickness webs on the shell which project through the divided top and bottom walls of the magazine, said shell being provided with a divided front wall including a first front wall part which bears against said forward inturned flange and a second and rearwardly displaced front wall part which bears against said rearwardly displaced inturned flange, the two front wall parts defining therebetween a nail outlet which opens sidewise, a flexible strip of ribbon-connected nails disposed in said shell and adapted to be pulled endwise and forwardly through said outlet for sidewise removal of the nails, one at a time, from the shell, each of said front wall parts having portions of the respective rim flanges projecting forwardly therefrom, the medial region of said first front wall part being formed with an inwardly offset yieldable detent protuberance which overhangs the rim flange portion on the second front wall part in close proximity thereto and cooperates therewith in restricting the flow of nails outwardly through said nail outlet.

12. In a nailing tool the combination set forth in claim 11, wherein the rim flange portion on said first front wall part is formed with an elongated slit therein, and wherein the rim flange portion on said second front wall part is provided with a forwardly projecting extension establishing a locking tab designed for removable reception in said slit to prevent egress of nails from the cartridge shell.

13. In a nailing tool, the combination set forth in claim 11, wherein said detent protuberance defines an external trough-like depression on said first front wall part and having a shallow trough portion established by a pair of coplanar bottom walls which are separated by a relatively deep central dividing trough, the crest of said dividing trough being engageable with successive nails as they pass through said outlet.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,784,405 3/ 1957 Working.

3,173,728 3/1965 Sheer 312-73 3,338,396 8/1967 Powers 2-0656 3,357,761 12/1967 Langas et a1 312-73 3,410,620 11/ 1968 Howard 312-73 CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 206-56 

